NEWS

Friday and Saturday 4/5th June saw the teams preparing for the test sessions due to take place on Sunday; last-minute adjustments to the cars, seat-fittings for some drivers, and fitting out the pit garages. The teams also had to submit to the rigours of technical inspections for both cars and drivers.

Every car is checked with scrupulous efficiency, to ensure that it is safe to take to the track and that it complies with the regulations. No teams are exempt not even those who went through the process less than two months ago, competing in the Le Mans Endurance Series race at Spa-Francorchamps. So many had already undergone scrutineering, involving many of the officials examining them today. We got a clean bill of health at Spa, and it was the same here today,explained Dennis Leech, team manager of Racesport Peninsula, whose TVR Tuscan 400R had just been checked. We get on well with the scrutineers they are very helpful. They measure just about every dimension, and they are very strict the length is checked to the nearest millimetre. They also measure the front and rear overhangs, the wheelbase, the width, the rear wing size everything.

Passing such a meticulous examination isn't the end of it for the teams the officials will have their weigh scales and measures out again in ten days time, rechecking the cars with even greater thoroughness prior to the actual race.

The drivers also have to go through a technical inspection, the administrators using part of the media centre for the purpose. They are very thorough more so than for any other series, said Darren Turner, who will be racing one of the two Aston Martin DBR9 entries tomorrow. We have to fill out a few forms and produce our racing licence, which the officials take a copy of. They check our helmets, and even that our racing overalls have the right FIA serial numbers.

As with the cars, the drivers will go through it all again prior to the race but again, it will be taken to the next level. For practice, they just check a single helmet for each driver; before the race, where a driver uses more than one then each one will be looked at, explained Turner. They will check everything even our boots and gloves.

Scrutineering for the race takes place on Monday and Tuesday 13/14th June, when the organisers take over the town centre of Le Mans. For years the Place des Jacobins has become the centre of activity, and members of the public flock to take advantage of the chance to get close to the teams and drivers.​We wish the team all the very best for testing tomorrow.With thanks to the ACO for this report.